Hair curler



Sept. 8, 1970 I I v FUMIHIKOQYABE 3,527,237

HAIR CURLER I Y Filed Oct. 9, 1967 EN 25 25 Z 3 Q 23 n i o :s .2 0 g F/ a. 3 v

an) T Q T 4 k 4 F 43 I I FWHQX L B E' ATTORNEY United States Patent No. 673,876 v Int. Cl. A4511 2/00 s. Cl. 132-40 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to a hair curler consisting of an inner shell of a heat retentive material and an outer shell of a hair contacting material which may be provided with outstanding prong or other projecting members to engage a coil of hair.

, DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a curler and particu larly a hair curler which may be heated and which will carry the heat without causing any undesirable effect upon the fingers of the operator when a coil of hair is placed thereon, to which the heat will be gradually imparted.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel hair curler which may be readily handled after being heated and which will store the heat and apply it to coiled hair placed thereon.

Another object is to provide a novel simple hair waving curler which is devoid of any liquid bodies and which would be heat absorbent and gradually release the heat absorbed thereby without the use of liquids or molten bodies therein.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactory to form a curler in two sections which will expand and contract at the same rate, involving a central tubular section of a polycarbonate plastic, preferably with glass fibers embodied therein, and an outer shell of nylon.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 608,700 filed Jan. 11, 1967 now Pat. No. 3,472,245 by the same inventor. The present application particularly distinguishes from said prior application by the limitation of the claims to a resinous material which is found to be particularly suitable for the purposes in its heat retention and heat release properties, namely polycarbonate.

This resinous material absorbs heat promptly from the electrical heating elements and at the same time permits it to be slowly transferred to the wound hair curl upon the waving element during the period of operation.

It has been found that polycarbonates embodying glass fibers are particularly efl'fective in retaining heat and gradually dispersing it through a shell of nylon material and are not heavy on the head and are not similar to metals which tend to become too hot to handle. It has been found that such devices are most efiective at a temperature of 130 C. and may be maintained at a temperature range of 120 to 140, preferably 125 to 135 C. The best materials which may be utilized are nylon as an outer shell with an interior material consisting of ebonite, or of Jurakon which is a polycarbonate material having glass fibers therein.

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Both the outer shell and the interior heat absorbent cylinder expand and contract at the same rate and will not separate and do not become too hot to handle. Although the device may be closed at one end, it is desirably open at both ends and is provided with outstanding prongs for engaging the hair and transmitting the heat thereto, which prongs desirably should be less than a radius in length, and preferably not more than A or /5 of a radius in length.

These prongs may be arranged in three rows of three each, projecting at angles of 60 to one another, or four rows projecting at angles of to one another, or six rows projecting at an angle of 60 to each other. Preferably the prongs are arranged in groups of three. Although prongs are preferred, it is also possible to use circular projecting ridges or spirals. It is important that the nylon shell and the heat absorbent base be substantially integrally joined without separation due to the heating and cooling of the unit and that the exterior shell be much thinner than the exterior sleeve, with the thickness of the former constituting less than /2 to /3 of the thickness of the interior sleeve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modification can be resorted to.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational View partly in section of one form of curler according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is another side elevational view partly in section of an alternative form of curler of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a curler A having an outside sleeve B, desirably of nylon, and an inside sleeve C of a glass fiber impregnated polycarbonate plastic. The inside sleeve C is shown as cup-shaped, with a cylinder wall 20 which terminates at 21 and a top closed wall 22. The polycarbonate containing glass fiber is so joined at the junction 23 as not to be separable, even though the heat may vary from room temperature to 250 F. or C. Desirably this inside cup or sleeve C forms a major portion of the mass and will be directly in contact with the heating element, which may consist of an electrically heated device projecting in the hollow space 24.

The outer shell B of nylon desirably is relatively thin and should not exceed /5 to /3 of the inner shell C. It has a series of prongs 25 projecting therefrom, arranged in four rows, as shown best in the cross sectional view of FIG. 2. These prongs are in rows of three each and extend from slightly above the lower end of the outside cylinder to slightly below the beads 27 at the top of the bead of the outer element.

Referring to the alternative embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, the curler E has an interior shell F and an exterior shell G. These shells are substantially integrally joined together, as indicated at 35 so that they will not separate upon cooling or heating up. The exterior shell desirably consists of a thin layer of smooth nylon which has been integrally fitted upon the interior shell F, consisting of a polycarbonate plastic containing fibrous materials. The interior shell F has two to four times the thickness of the exterior shell G and at the upper end there are the openings 36 and 37 permitting passage of air into and out of the opening 38 at the top of the curler combination.

The exterior has three rows of integrally formed prongs 39, arranged in groups of three, and they terminate at 40 below the upper bead 41 and at 42 above the lower bead 43 of the sleeve G. It will be noted both in FIGS. 1 and 3 that the outer sleeves B extend substantially beyond the ends 21 and 44 of the inside sleeves. The preferred combination involves two solid members which are shrinkfitted together and desirably are both formed of synthetic resinous materials which do not separate upon heatingor cooling.

The heater element, which may consist of an electrically heated tubular metal member, may be inserted in the open spaces 24 and 38 of the structures. Then the heat unit may be removed from the heater and a womans hair may be curled thereon and the heat distributed from the interior heat storage cap or cylinder C and F through the nylon sleeve B and G to the hair. No liquid bodies need be employed and assurance is had that the heat will be uniformly and slowly distributed into the hair.

Although the interior structure C and F may in some instances be made of Bakelite, the preferred combinations are polycarbonate. The preferred resins are known under the names of ebonite or Jurakon.

Normally, with the combination of the present invention, it will take about four minutes to heat up the curler from room temperature to a temperature of 85 to 90 C., with the interiortemperature being 130 C.

It will then take eleven to fifteen minutes for the tema perature to return to 60 C., during which the preferred combination involves nylon with a polycarbonate interior and with glass fibers preferably extending through the polycarbonate interior.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. A cylindrical hair curler of the type designed to be centrally electrically heated and having a thin outer heat transmitting annular shell and a thick interior heat absorbent annular solid body; said curler being composed of two cylindrical members inseparably and integrally joined and not separable upon heating in a range between roomtemperature and 100 C. with the outer shell consisting of smooth face nylon and the inner annular body consisting of polycarbonate heat absorbent material carrying glass fibers, said outer shell on its exterior face having a plurality of projecting elements to engage and transmit heat to the hair curled thereon.

2. The curler of claim 1, said shell and body being closed at one end and open at the other end.

3. The curler of claim 1, said shell and body being open at both ends.

4. The curler of claim '1, said shell extending beyond the body.

5. The interior of the curler of claim 1, being sufficiently large to receive a heater element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS G. E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.-R. 219-222 

